Sunday, February 27, 2011

Description from the amazon:Born human, Mackenzie never wanted to be a shapeshifter. After a shifter stalks and brutally Changes her, she runs to the jaguars of River Gap pride for protection from the stalker still searching for her, to come to terms with the attack and learn to control her new, powerful cougar body.

Adam, a River Gap Sentinel, is assigned as her guard and mentor. Well aware of his strength and how new she is the shapeshifter world, he holds himself back from the flames of primal desire she ignites. But, to survive the stalker, they both need to first battle their pasts and learn what it truly means to be the sentinels of each other’s hearts.

Amusing quote:He paused and gave her an insufferable grin. He even had the nerve to take in a huge breath of air, expanding his chest until she could see the cords of muscle ripple under the stretched fabric of his shirt.- page 28, chapter 2

Series: Terra's Guardians seriesRed's WolfHeart's Sentinel

My two-bits:In-a-word(s): claim

This romance story introduces you to a shifter-cat (jaguar, cougar, panther) world which has its distinct features compared to a werewolf world.

I like how martial arts figures into the story and using it as a way to gain self control as well as self defense for the main character.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

When Zilly Rosen first told us at Zillycakes about the idea pitched to her of a zombie themed cupcake book, I was more than enthusiastic about the concept!

How can the combination of two of my favorite things go wrong? She asked if I could help, since she hadn’t seen a single zombie movie. I’ve seen them all, so I immediately started jotting down ideas.

Our first challenge was to figure out how to make the book flow from beginning to end. I revisited all my favorite zombie movies for inspiration—14!—which may seem excessive, but hey, I do love a good excuse to watch zombie movies. That’s when it hit me: we should have the book layout like a zombie movie would unfold! Once we had that structure in place, I did a little zombie 101 with Zilly and Hannah, and the three of us had no trouble brainstorming some truly Zombietastic cupcakes!

A zombie movie can start a few different ways: some fool gets bit, or some crazed scientist gets sloppy with an experiment, or a government agency carelessly disposes of their biohazardous materials. All these acts produce the first of the walking dead. From these ideas the designs for Toxic Bite, Biohazard, T-virus, and The Crows were born.

In the middle of the movie, once the flesh craving infection has begun, it’s only a matter of time before the living dead are clawing at your door for your BRAINS! This brings us to the next set of zombie inspired cupcakes: Zombie moon, Zombie Rising, and On the Loose.

Next, zombies feast! You know, this is the really good part of the movie, where zombies are everywhere eating everyone! We figured it was only fair to have some of our delectable treats designed for the zombies themselves. This inspired such cupcakes as Zombie Delight, Eye Poppers and Brain Food.

Now comes the real problem: the zombies are here, we know they want to eat us, so how do we kill them? This crucial question brought us to our next series of cupcakes in the book titled: Decapitated Zombie, Skeletal Zombie and Bludgeon to Survive.

Finally, at the end of any great zombie movie, just when you think you’re rid of the flesh craving nuisance there is always a teaser scene leading you to believe that another aombie up rising is certain. This is why we ended our book Zombie Cupcakes with a cupcake grave yard scene. Are you sure you finished the job before you buried them?

They’re coming for you, Barbara…

I had a blast helping to create this zombie crazed cupcake book, and I am grateful to Zilly for letting me be a part of it.

Dear Lord Akeldama: The 2011 Edition, Part Threein which questions are answered for Antonia, Freda, Llehn, and Nina!original questions from the Dandies & Delectables post are here

Excerpt:Fredamans asks: Of all the books and trinkets you have appeared on, which is your favorite and why?

Lord Akeldama: I would refrain from pointing this out, under most ordinary circumstances, but you did ask. My creator has been most remiss in not insisting that I be on the cover of any of her books. Until that time, I do not have a favorite. read more

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki—a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.

Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will's dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away—if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She'll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.

Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.

A very YA romance story with a main character who happens to manifest into a dragon. In fact, the parts I liked were the shape shifting parts. The descriptions and feelings related were so vivid and beautiful. The visuals would be spectacular on screen.

Exciting news:As of January 2011, a movie adaptation of Firelight is in the making. - per THR

The YA couple in this story, Jacinda and Will, just made it onto my Fave YA couples list.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Author E. Van Lowe needs your help in choosing the cover for his new novel Boyfriend From Hell. To entice you into entering, he's giving away some awesome swag. The contest is easy. All you need to do to qualify is choose which of the three covers below you like best.

Blurb from author:

Have you ever had a boyfriend from hell?

You know the kind: guy who messes with your life so much he turns it into Swiss cheese. Or maybe he was the guy who followed you home like a lost puppy, then turned into the pit bull you couldn't get rid of, no matter how hard you tried. Or maybe he was abusive.

I'm sure we've all had a bad boyfriend or two (or girlfriend in my case). My new novel, Boyfriend From Hell, is about a boyfriend from hell--literally. It's a YA paranormal like Never Slow Dance With A Zombie, but I've cut back on the comedy a bit in this one. It's the story of Megan Barnett, the fifteen year-old daughter of a 39 year-old single mom, Suze. When Suze decides it's time she had a man in her life, Megan is not happy. With good reason:

"First off, if anyone in my family should be dating, it should be me. I'm primo dating age here. How's it going to look if my mother has a boyfriend and I don't?" So Megan and Suze both set out to meet boyfriends. That's when all hell breaks loose.

ARC Book Giveaway courtesy of author

Prizes: ARCs (when they are available in April) or a tee shirt. 2 prizes in all.

Open to all.

Offer ends: March 4, 2011

TO DO:

Of the three book covers above, which do you like best?

Tell me the answer and leave your email in comments.

On March 5th I will hold a random drawing of all who left a comment. There will be two winners who will receive their choice of an ARC or a tee shirt. I will email the winners and post the winning cover design on the blog.

Jason Masters must journey to another realm and join forces with a slave girl named Koren to rescue the captives and save two worlds from destruction.

What if the Legends Are True?

Jason Masters doubted the myths: people taken through a portal to another realm and enslaved by dragons. But when his brother is taken, he must uncover the truth and find the portal before it's too late.

Once he's through the portal, he meets Koren, a slave in the dragons' realm, who struggles to destroy a black egg prophesied to doom all mankind. Jason and Koren must work together to save their two worlds before the dragons learn that their secrets have been discovered.

In Starlighter, bestselling author Bryan Davis masterfully weaves fantasy and inspiration into a captivating novel for young adults.

Zombie sighting:Would she transform into a mindless zombie who believed love was hatched from bondage, that the Code was useless and impossible to obey, that her sacrifice for friends caused the hearts of ment to fail?- location 361, chapter 20

Series: Dragons of StarlightStarlighterWarrior - just released Jan 2011

My two-bits:In-a-word(s): litmus fingerThe dragons in here are mostly baaaaad. Save for one who you met during the dragons event here.

You are in for some action (swords and photon guns) and adventure (journey to an otherworld) in this engrossing dragon tale (with a cliffhanger ending). But, the story still is good as a stand-alone.

For today’s love potion, we’d like to share a lovely aria connected to the subject of – love potions.

In L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love), the young hero, Nemorino, spends the last of his money to obtain a love potion from a traveling purveyor of potions, who sells it to him for ‘the price of whatever you have in your pocket.’

In the grand tradition of traveling quacks, the love philtre is, of course, a phony, being just a bottle of red wine.

But Nemorino is so convinced that the potion will work that he’s overly confident that he’ll win the love of the beautiful Adina. They meet and she playfully teases him without mercy, but he treats her with indifference.

Secretly, Adina does indeed love the callow Nemorino, but out of injured pride, she instead accepts the marriage proposal of the pompous Sergeant Belcore.

To up the ante and wipe the gloating smile off Nemorino’s face, she proposes that she and Belcore marry that very same day, before his regiment ships off.

Belcore is overjoyed with his fine catch, Adina despairs that the imminent nuptials won’t spur Nemorino to act, and Nemorino rushes off in a panic, bewildered and looking for another love potion to make Adina love him.

A very fine mess of tangled hearts ensues.

All’s well that ends well, though, when the sulking Nemorino suddenly realizes something crucial; while recalling Adina’s face while he spoke to her, he remembers seeing one irrefutable proof of love in her eyes that no love potion could ever deliver - a single, furtive tear.

In the video above, Nemorino sings the lovely aria ‘Una furtiva lagrima’ (‘A furtive tear’), where he realizes that love is the secret cause of her unhappiness, and that – love potion or no love potion – he’s already captured her heart and true love might very well save the day.

This award is for 15 new blogs and new blogging friends newly-discovered bloggers by me:

Here are the rules:1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.3) Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

So, before you run away screaming for your lives, stop and appreciate the beauty of the undead.

And remember, It's Okay to be a Zombie.

My two-bits:In-a-word(s): eyes of xSuch a cute book filled with colorful zombies in a colorful world. An uber cool picture book for adults that presents the multiplication of zombies in a zombocalyptic world.

If you liked the book trailer, then you are sure to enjoy this gem of a book!

Excerpt from Jessica's blog post:The Story of the Karma Club Book Soundtrackby Jessica Brody

Have you ever been reading a book, stopped at a specific part and said, "I know the perfect song to go with this scene!"

Well, as authors, this happens to us very often. Except when we're actually writing the book. When writing The Karma Club, however, I wanted to take it a step further. I wanted to create an entire book soundtrack with songs that you could listen to while you read and that contributed perfectly to scene you were reading. I thought, if movies can have soundtracks, why not books?

So I teamed up with my very good friend and brilliant producer, Holly Karrol Clark, and we set off to produce one of the first Original Book Soundtracks, featuring songs that directly enhance your experience when reading the story. And we even produced FOUR original songs directly inspired by the book!

Here are some fun stories of how each song came to be included in the Karma Club Book Soundtrack and how/when it fits into the story of The Karma Club.

Thank you for featuring our gruesome Zombie Felties on your blog. We hope our creative collaboration of the soft and fuzzy, combined with macabre zombie designs, will tempt you to enter the world of dark crafts!

One of my personal favourites:

Zombie Undertaker - caretaker of the dead.

To get undead, you have to die first.

And who better to manage the interment than an undead mortician, brain exposed and alive with pearly little maggots?

Grave in demeanor, grim in appearance, and perfect for the role, he's even bought a suitable coffin to manage the occasion.

Summary:Bertie thinks her quest is almost done. With the help of Ariel and the rest of her friends, she has managed to find her father and rescue the kidnapped pirate, Nate, from Sedna the sea goddess. Now all she has to do is reunite her father, The Scrimshander, with her mother, Ophelia, and she will finally have a true family of her own. However, things are never easy for Beatrice Shakespeare Smith. Her father has vanished, Sedna is out for revenge, her own actions have trapped the Theatre Illuminata, the only home she’s ever known, into a strange kind of limbo, and the stress of her in-between state is tearing apart the fragile threads of her mother’s sanity. Bertie’s best hope for salvaging the situation may lie in the summons by Her Gracious Majesty, Queen of the Distant Castle and hope of winning the magical boon given to the most pleasing performance. Bertie is caught between her growing responsibilities to home and family and the dream of flying free, just as her heart is torn between her two loves, Ariel and Nate. With so many forces pulling on her, how will Bertie be able to choose which wish to make come true?

The stops:

Let me start off by saying this tour started off with a very interesting concept.

Parts of the book cover were revealed at different blog locations over the span of 4 days, feb 14-17. And then, the entire picture was presented (see above) on feb 18 by all participants.

Description from the amazon:In this follow up to Alan Gandy's highly successful "My Little Brother is a ZOMBIE, Book 1", we continue to follow the adventures of Calamity, a now not-so-young girl, who will still do anything for her walking-dead little brother.

But she must contend with one Maxwell Bishop, a zombie fighting "hero" that wants to put an end to Calamity and Kale!

How to:1) The day before, make the hands. Roll the green Half and Half into 12 balls and then roll and press one end of each ball to thin it out into a cylinder shape. Flatten the rounded end so that the piece of icing vaguely resembles a ping-pong bat.

2) Using a craft knife, make one cut on one side of the flattened area to make a thumb. Pull it out to the side. Make a second cut in the middle of the remaining rounded portion, and a third and fourth cut on either side to create 4 fingers.

3) Pull and mould the tips of the fingers to make them slightly pointed. Using a cocktail stick, score 3 lines into each finger to create joints. This will be the palm side of the hand. On the reverse side, use the cocktail stick to indent a fingernail shape at the end of each finger.

4) Bend the fingers up from the palm to resemble a claw. Prop the hand against a vertical surface so that it dries in the claw shape. Make another 11 hands in the same way and leave to dry overnight.

6) Melt the chocolate in a microwave oven on Low or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together and set aside. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and, using an electric whisk, beat together until pale and fluffy. Blend in the melted chocolate and then gradually beat in the eggs and mix well together. Mix in the vanilla extract and soured cream. Add half the flour mixture and blend in, then mix in the water and remaining flour mixture until incorporated.

7) Spoon half the mixture into the paper cases and spread over the cookies. Add 1 heaped teaspoon of chocolate chips to each. Add the remaining mixture and sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips and cookie pieces over the tops. Bake for about 25 minutes, turning once halfway through baking, until well risen and firm to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.

8) When the cupcakes are cold, spread or pipe the Dark Chocolate Ganache on top of each cupcake. Mix together most of the chocolate cookie crumbs and all of the chocolate chips in a dish and dip the top of each cupcake into the mixture to create graveyard earth.

9) Push a cocktail stick into the wrist end of each hand and press into the earth to anchor it. To enhance the effect of the hand rising from the grave, paint clear piping gel in different places on the hand and at the base, and sprinkle the remaining chocolate cookie crumbs on the gel so that it sticks. Finish by adding a Fly.

Zombie Cupcakes:From the Grave to the Table with 16 Cupcake Corpsesby Zilly Rosen

Description from the amazon:"Zombie Cupcakes" serves up an overdue backlash. Cooked up in the darkest of graveyards, it presents a ghoulish army of delicious creations that appear anything but sugar-coated.

Recipes range from Zombie Flesh to Zombie Brain, from Gravestones to Night of the Living Cupcake.

All the cooking and icing techniques are included, and every recipe features step-by-step instructions for the baking and icing, alongside devilish illustrations and photography.

As a finishing touch, zombie quiz panels will test your undead knowledge, making this the book that will raise the spirits at even the most lifeless of gatherings.

Wanna make your own cute tasty zombie treats?

--/=/=-- Book Giveaway courtesy of author --=\=\=--

Open to US only.

Offer ends: February 27, 2011

TO DO:Take a look at Zilly's cupcake designs and tell me which would be the first for you to eat if you were present with these on a sampler tray.